Redemption in Weird Places
by alicekinsno1
Summary: my take on what happens to Lelouch after R2. Spoilers for those who haven't seen the end. Lelouch X Shirley. VERY, VERY mushy!


_A/N: My take on what happens to Lelouch after he dies in R2. This was just me wanting to do a really mushy LelouchXShirley story (so if you don't like extreme soppiness, you might not want to read). Enjoy, and happy summer!_

Lelouch got used to the carnage that accumulated around him, day after day after day. Bent to the will and whim of misfortune again and again, he barely felt anything at all as he watched one person after another after another die in the senseless waste he had set up. He was a monster, and he knew it- a demon in the truest sense of the word. That was what happened when you carried the weight of the world on your shoulders, though, and he accepted it. Even if it cost him absolutely everything, sooner or later, he held out hope that the pain would end. Someday.

He welcomed death at Zero's hands with open arms. His plan was perfect, the world would be at peace now, and so would he. Even if he ended up suffering an eternity of torment, it surely couldn't be any worse than the suffering he had endured his entire miserable life. Happiness would probably kill him a hundred times over again.

After Lelouch's death, there was talk of cremating his body, so that nobody could make a martyr out of him. But CC had other plans. The second Schneizel's back was turned, she stole Lelouch's body. She had the perfect resting place for Lelouch: right beside Mao, that other sacrifice on the altar of Geass. Now those two fragile little boys could sleep together forever, at peace after all this time. CC dug the grave by herself (it was amazing what you could do if you were never going to die of exhaustion or cave-ins), until it was as wide as Lelouch, and deep enough that a partially-decomposed hand hung over into it. CC laid Lelouch's pitiful body in the hole, and, just for affectation (a silly, sentimental thing, really, but it seemed like a good idea at the time), she placed Lelouch's hand over the rotting bones. She stopped only briefly to survey her handiwork, and bow her head in remembrance, before she filled the hole in, and walked away, to depart Japan for good.

Lelouch had always expected that he would suffer the worst in the afterlife. Which was why, when he woke up again, he was deeply surprised, and not a little ashamed, by what he saw. First, he was staring at a warm, white light; and the next thing he knew, he was standing in the middle of the most indescribably beautiful place he had ever imagined, full of warm sunlight and stunning landscapes as far as the eye could see. His princely clothes were gone, replaced by articles of the softest white. All around him, men, women, and children went about their business, everything about their faces and mannerisms hinting at pure, unadulterated bliss. "No... this c-can't be...," Lelouch began to moan, "I... I can't be in paradise; I don't deserve this! I'm a monster! I should be suffering forever, I don't deserve this kind of happiness!" And he got down on his hands and knees in shame, sobbing. Everyone began staring at him, not quite sure how to comfort him. It was normal to react a little strongly to the realization that one was dead, but this was another matter entirely.

Only one woman understood. "Oh, Lulu!" It was Shirley. "Lulu, I'm so happy you're finally here!" She ran right up to where Lelouch was crying, knelt down, and scooped him into a hug. "I mean, it's horrible that you're dead but... look, now we can be together forever! Oh, isn't this just wonderful?"

"S-shirley... what...?" It took Lelouch a minute to regain his thoughts. "Shirley, something terrible's happened. I'm in heaven when I should be in hell or just cease to exist..."

"Lulu, don't say things like that!" Shirley protested. "You don't deserve to be..." a flicker of fear traced across her face, "anywhere else but here!"

"But Shirley, do you have any idea how many people I killed? Any idea what kind of pain I put all those innocents through, just for ideals that I'm not sure if I even believed in!"

"I saw the whole thing," said Shirley, "But I know- you did the things you did because you were hurting. You just wanted it to all stop, and you thought you could fix it. If not for you, for Nunnally or all them."

"It doesn't matter why I did them," said Lelouch, who was clinging to Shirley now, "I'm a monster, and I could never be anything else."

"No, Lelouch, you're not a monster," said Shirley, "You're a good man, you really are!"

"I don't understand...," Lelouch moaned.

"I didn't understand either, at first," said Shirley, whose eyes nervously flickered outward. Lelouch, following her gaze, noticed Euphemia- who was talking to Mao and Rolo!

"What?" Lelouch hissed, and he leapt to his feet, "What are those two boys doing here?"

Mao and Rolo jumped too. "Brother!" Rolo shouted eagerly, running to greet Lelouch. Mao, meanwhile, ducked behind Euphemia.

"Stay away from me!" Lelouch ranted, "What have you done to Euphemia?" It was only then that he noticed that Shirley was tugging on his sleeve. "Why are you restraining me?" he went on, "Have you forgotten what they did to you?"

"Lelouch, calm down," said Euphemia, "These two are my friends."

"Y-yeah," said Mao, clutching Euphemia harder. Now that Lelouch saw Mao so... exposed, he realized that his purplish-blue eyes were much larger than he had given him credit for- and they looked terrified. "I said I was sorry to her about a hundred times."

"Me too," said Rolo.

"I... I don't understand...," said Lelouch, struck dumb.

"Lelouch, I didn't understand either," Shirley went on, "But eventually someone explained some stuff, and it all made sense to me." She gently led Lelouch away from Euphemia and the others, and sat him down off on their own. "Listen, it goes like this: this isn't just heaven, it's also a sort of limbo. You see, whatever, or whoever, runs this place is going by the idea that you've been punished enough when you were alive. So they're giving you a second chance. If you can prove that you have the ability to be good, then you'll get to stay here with me forever." Her eyes shimmered romantically. "We'll spend all the rest of eternity playing and talking and cuddling and doing whatever else we want, it'll be so wonderful!"

"What if I can't be good?" asked Lelouch. Shirley's face went pale.

"I... nobody really knows... it's too horrible to think about...," she muttered, shivering.

"It... never mind, then," said Lelouch.

"Lelouch, it doesn't matter," said Shirley, "None of that matters anymore! I know you're good! I know that in time you'll realize that you're good! And you'll be happy here, you'll see. You'll learn to love everybody and we'll all be one big happy family! You and me and Euphemia and Mao and Rolo and Clovis and Asahina and everyone!"

"You really think that could happen?" said Lelouch.

"Yeah, absolutely!" said Shirley with a sweet smile. "Mao and Rolo and Clovis and all them weren't much better when they first got here but they're improving and so can you if you aren't afraid to try!"

Lelouch stared into her eyes, and remembered all the good times they had had together, and everything she had done to convince him that she loved him, and that they should stay together. And then he felt himself overwhelmed by a desire- or even need- to be the man that she had always dreamed of. This girl had suffered so much because of him, and so how fitting that his first act of "being good" would be to make amends to her. "Okay, Shirley," he said, holding his arms out to her. "Come to me. If you want me to be yours, and stay with you forever, then I will, just for you."

"Oh, Lulu, I knew you would!" said Shirley, sliding herself into his arms. He held her close.

"You're so... soft," he said in surprise.

"Oh, everyone here gets like that eventually," she said, "So will you. It's a nice feeling, really."

The two of them sat down together, kissing and cuddling, running fingers through each other's hair, happy tears streaming down their faces as they came to the full realization that this was what they were to do, forever. They continued until they were thoroughly exhausted, and then flopped down onto the soft grass, their arms around each other. "Oh, Shirley," Lelouch whispered, in the most tender, loving voice he was capable of. "I haven't felt so happy and free in such a long time."

"That's a good start," said Shirley cheekily, "Now do you see why you aught to at least give this place a try?" She giggled.

Lelouch nodded. "I love you, Shirley."

"I love you too, Lulu."

And the two of them fell asleep just like that, clinging to one another in the glorious sunshine.


End file.
